These were the days of awe and wonder.
People were perplexed by the strange heavenly signs. Ministers were quick
to connect the mysterious events[iv]to prophecies[v]
in
the bible. Bible scholars determined that, as of 1799, six of Revelation’s
seven trumpets had already sounded:[vi]
and, the rapture of the church would occur during the
sounding of the seventh.

In reality, the dark day was caused by
the build up of soot in the upper atmosphere from large forest fires.
Thick fog and cloud cover contributed to the darkness[vii]
and, it mostly just affected the northeastern United States. The
red moon which followed was due to the same atmospheric conditions.
In 1799, what appeared to be stars falling was
actually a prolific meteor shower[viii]
which occurs every 33 years.
Yet, few people could remember anything like this
happening before; neither did they understand the underlying science involved.

A New England farmer named William Miller, believing there
was little time left, searched the scriptures looking for answers.

William Miller (1782–1849), Founder of a Movement that Branched Into the Seventh
Day Adventists

The eldest of sixteen children,
William Miller was a sincere man, he
achieved[ix]
the highest degree of Masonry given in the region of Massachusetts where he
lived; then[x]
he became a Baptist preacher. Miller made it into the history books by
predicting the year Jesus Christ would return and the end of the world would
come. He made it clear that he did not
discover this knowledge through divine revelation. He found out about the "Time" through a
study[xi]of Dan. 8:14 and certain verses in Revelation. After
exhaustively researching the chronology in Daniel for years, Miller became
convinced that the coming of Christ was likely to occur about the year 1843.[xii]

This discovery overwhelmed
Miller. At
first, he published his warning anonymously, and then prayed that God would
raise up qualified ministers to proclaim the message. Then,
Miller started hearing a voice continually ringing in his ears, telling him to,

Obviously, God would have known if the world
was coming to an end in the 1840s; and, because it was not, the odds are slim that the
voice Miller believed he heard
was a divine communication.
Is it possible that Miller’s association with the
occult[xiv] practices
of Freemasonry opened up a door which led him to hearing voices? One thing is certain, in Miller’s mind,
God raised him up as watchman; and, God was holding
him personally responsible for the fate of the wicked.

Miller explained:

"This text [Ezekiel 33:8, KJV] was constantly occurring to
me, 'When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die;
if thou
dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou
warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he
shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.'"[xv]

Warn the wicked is exactly what
Miller did. History does not agree on the year he started his
public speaking ministry; in 1845 looking back on his ministry, Miller recorded
that
he gave his first public lecture on the first Sunday of August, 1833.[xvi]
Yet, it could[xvii]
have been as early as 1831.[xviii]
One thing is clear: Miller’s lectures
were convincing!

Dramatic Presentations:

William Miller had the amazing knack of leading his audience, step-by-step
on a journey, which ended with them witnessing

His
speaking style was calm and steady. Yet,
the content of his lectures were nothing less than spectacular:

"'Hark!--hear
those dreadful bellowings of the angry nations! It is the presage of horrid and
terrific war. Look!--look again! See crowns, and kings, and kingdoms tumbling to
the dust! See lords and nobles, captains and mighty men, all arming for the
bloody, demon fight! See the carnivorous fowls fly screaming through the air!
See--see these signs! Behold, the heavens grow black with clouds; the sun has
veiled himself; the moon, pale and forsaken, hangs in middle air; the hail
descends; the seven thunders utter loud their voices; the lightnings send their
vivid gleams of sulphurous flame abroad; and the great city of the nations falls
to rise no more forever and forever! At this dread moment, look! look!--O, look
and see! What means that ray of light? The clouds have burst asunder; the
heavens appear; the great white throne is in sight! Amazement fills the universe
with awe! He comes!--he comes! Behold, the Saviour comes! Lift up your heads, ye
saints,--he comes!--he comes!--he comes!”[xx]

Because Miller had painted such a stunning picture
of the powerful Second Coming of Christ, men and women were often left shaking
in their pews; now they had to come to grips with whether they were spiritually
ready to meet the Lord. At first, churches flew open their doors just to
hear Miller speak. Ten’s of thousands were converted through his message.
They had seen the earnest conviction in his eyes.

One minister who helped Miller immensely was Joshua V. Himes.
He launched Miller to his place in history as one of
the most successful public speakers of his day by arranging for Miller to speak
in big cities. No longer was Miller limited to lecturing in rural
congregations. The expected return of Jesus Christ
became known as “the Advent;”[xxi]
it was also called, “the Second Advent.”[xxii]

Miller made up charts[xxiii]
with mathematical calculations.
He also authored several written works, which Himes published. Here are two examples:

Just as Miller’s message[xxiv]was gaining momentum, the earth
passed through the tail of that reoccurring comet one more time:

"We pronounce the raining of fire which we saw on Wednesday
morning last, an awful type, a sure forerunner - a merciful sign of the great
and dreadful day which the inhabitants of the earth will witness when the Sixth
Seal shall be opened. The time is just at hand described, not only in the New
Testament, but in the Old. A more correct picture of a fig tree casting its
leaves when blown by a mighty wind is not possible to behold." (Connecticut
Observer, November 25, 1833)

This phenomenon occurs every 33 years; yet,
sometimes it is not[xxvi]
nearly as spectacular as it was in 1833:

“…some time before dawn on November 13, 1833, thousands upon
thousands of brilliant stars were seen falling toward the earth, and strange,
shimmering lights shot upward against the background of a cloudless sky… balls
of fire blazed… and exploded in the air… Throughout the
districts where William Miller had been sounding the alarm of approaching doom,
the excitement was intense, and wherever his word had spread, this awe-inspiring
spectacle produced a profound sensation, and brought many heretofore scoffers to
join those who believed in his prophecy.” (Days of Delusion, Chapter 3, Clara
Endicott Sears, 1924)

For many, this event took away any doubt that Miller's message was true.
This greatly encouraged
Miller. He redoubled his efforts[xxvii]
to state publicly that between March 21, 1843, to March 21, 1844, which was the
beginning and ending of the Jewish year, a great trumpet from
heaven would sound; Jesus Christ would catch up the faithful, and those left
behind would be destroyed by fire. Miller
used the fear of Christ’s imminent return to stir people up to the point of
conversion.

Toward the end of Miller's ministry, a tent was constructed
which was larger than any other tent in America. Between 1842 to 1844 the tent was
in use; it seated more than 3,000 people:

“…dozens of camp meetings were held with attendances
overflowing the capacity of the great tent.”[xxix]

A Small Slip-Up:

March 21st,
1844, passed without the anticipated results.
Obviously, there had been a slip-up. The wicked made
it though the “Time” without a hitch. The righteous followers still firmly on
the ground were disappointed.
Adventists tried to make sense out of this failure.
They soon reasoned that Christ’s Second Coming[xxx]is an event clearly prophesied in scripture; therefore, many
came to believe that since it did not occur at the time when they first expected
it to, surely it would occur soon thereafter.
Multitudes still believed they were living in the
time of the end;[xxxi]and, that Christ’s Kingdom would soon be ushered in.[xxxii]

After the initial disappointment, Miller lost control of the
movement he started; people were re-grouping and new leaders were emerging: one of Miller’s associates, Samuel Snow, pored over the
prophecy in Daniel once more; he came to believe that Miller was off by one year
in his calculations; figuring that from the beginning of the decree spoken of in
Daniel to rebuild Jerusalem, to 1843, only 2,299 years would have passed.
Snow was certain that Miller’s math was
wrong, because Miller forgot to include a "zero year" in his calculations.
Meaning, 1843 would be one year shy of the 2,300 years needed to fulfill
Daniel’s prophecy. Now, Snow was convinced that Christ would return on October
22, 1844, which he considered the Jewish Day of Atonement.
This new understanding became known as "The Seventh
Month Movement"[xxxiii]
based upon the Jewish calendar.

Miller eventually endorsed this new "Time," explaining:

"I therefore had no fellowship with that movement until
about two or three weeks previous to the 22d of October, when seeing it had
obtained such prevalence, and considering it was at a probable point of time, I
was persuaded that it was a work of God..." (William
Miller, Apology and Defense, August, 1845)

On the Road Again:

“As this new light spread among the
Adventist believers, it seemed there was an irresistible power attending its
proclamation . . . It swept over the land with the velocity of a tornado and it
reached hearts in different and distant places almost simultaneously, and in a
manner which can be accounted for only on the supposition that God was in it.”[xxxiv]

To the uninitiated, the signs of Christ’s coming were too
plain to be doubted. Magazines were printed, heralding the event. Newspaper reporters attended and covered Adventists’ speaking
engagements. Fifteen hundred Millerites traveled across the United
States, going from town to town, proclaiming,

“the Advent near.”

During the final year of the movement,
with the established churches increasing their opposition to the message, some of the Advent leaders identified those churches as
"Babylon,"
citing a verse from Revelation 18:

(Verse 4): "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her
sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

This caused a deep division between Advent believers and their Christian peers.

The Midnight Hour:

When October 22nd came, the Millerites
watched and prayed. Many, with white ascension robes on, stood upon rooftops
anticipating a heavenly ride. As the midnight hour approached, the faithful were
at peace with God. They spent the last hours in quiet solitude:

Softly praying.

Waiting.

Resting.

Standing on the brink of eternity.
The summer was over; the harvest[xxxv]
was in the barns.
It was time for the laborers to reap their rewards.
Now was the time to flee from Egypt and enter
Canaan’s land.

Now was the time.

Nothing happened on October 22nd, 1844!
For the faithful, heavy depression set in.
This day was perhaps the greatest disappointment to
befall the church in the history of the New Dispensation.
Fifty thousand of Miller’s followers had found it
impossible to stay in fellowship with their former congregations.
They left those churches when their peers failed to
accept William Miller’s delusion.
These fifty thousand now had to face the truth.
They hadn’t been taken into glory.
The wicked still weren’t destroyed by fire.
One by one they retreated from their housetops and
places of worship and went to bed.[xxxvi]

Miller penned a letter for the faithful:

“Brethren hold fast; let no man take
your crown. I have fixed my mind on another time, and here I mean to stand until
God gives me more light, and that is today, today, and today, until he comes.”[xxxvii]

Could a movement that spanned over twelve
years and had over fifty thousand believers be wrong?
The faithful had been living in a revival-like
atmosphere for years.
Many had quit their jobs and given all of their
possessions to nonbelievers in the days before October 22, as a testimony to
their faith. In the days following the Great Disappointment, the
unwavering followers were convinced that this was merely the final test. Surely
something significant happened on October 22, 1844?

Shut Door Doctrine:

In the weeks and months following the
Great Disappointment, Miller thought the reason why so many people had
not received the Advent message, was because deep in their hearts they hated[xxxviii]
the thought of Christ appearing.

He explained:

“We have done our work in warning sinners... God, in his providence has shut the door... We are now living in the time specified by Malachi 3:18, also
Daniel 12:10, Rev. 22:10-12. In this passage we cannot help but see that a
little while before Christ should come, there would be a separation between the
just and unjust, the righteous and wicked, between those who love his appearing,
and those who hate it” (William Miller, letter of Nov. 18, 1844, quoted in The
Advent Herald, Dec. 11, 1844, p. 142).

Miller Apologizes:

After thinking over what became of the movement he started
and having a crisis
of conscience, in August of 1845, Miller apologized for being wrong about the
time of the Savior’s coming.
He also denounced all of the
new theories which had grown out of the movement since the Great Disappointment
of October 22nd,
1844.

Miller said,

“…
in the fall of '43, some of my brethren began to call the churches Babylon, and
to urge that it was the duty of Adventists to come out of them. With this I was
much grieved, as not only the effect was very bad, but I regarded it as a
perversion of the word of God, - a wresting of Scripture. But the practice
spread extensively; and from that time the churches, as might have been
expected, were closed against us. It prejudiced many against us so that they
would not listen to the truth. It created a deep feeling of hostility between
Adventists and those who did not embrace the doctrine; so that most of the
Adventists were separated from their respective churches. This was a result,
which I never desired, nor expected; but it was brought about by unforeseen
circumstances. We could then only act in accordance with the position in which
we were thus placed.

...

I have no confidence in any of the new theories… that Christ
then came as the Bridegroom, that the door of mercy was closed, that there is no
salvation for sinners, that the seventh trumpet then sounded, or that it was a
fulfillment of prophecy in any sense.” (William Miller, Apology and Defense,
August, 1845, p. 28)

With that apology submitted to his peers,
and due to his failing health, Miller
basically walked
away from the Advent Movement, yet the movement continued on without him. It really
gained momentum after a teen-age girl named, Ellen White, began falling into
trances[xxxix]
and receiving visions.

Ellen G. White (1827-1915), Co-founder of the Seventh-day
Adventist Church along with her husband John White and associate Joseph Bates

Ellen White was raised when
the Advent movement was at fever pitch. Her and her family were among the
faithful who experienced the Great Disappointment of 1844. She, along with
her family, were left searching for answers as to why God's people did not
ascend and the world did not end. Then in December of 1844, when Ellen was
17 years old, she experienced her
first vision. This vision confirmed that the 2,300 days mentioned in
Daniel ended on October 22, 1844.
Ellen now understood that the 1844 Advent message was in
reality God’s message to the world:

“…I was shown in vision, and I still believe, that there was
a shut door in 1844. All who saw the light of the first and second angels'
messages and rejected that light, were left in darkness. And those who accepted
it and received the Holy Spirit which attended the proclamation of the message
from heaven, and who afterward renounced their faith and pronounced their
experience a delusion, thereby rejected the Spirit of God, and it no longer
pleaded with them.

…These might have a form of godliness, and profess to be
followers of Christ; but having no living connection with God, they would be
taken captive by the delusions of Satan.” (Ms. 4, 1883; Selected Messages, book
1, pp. 63-64)

In her first vision, an angel showed Ellen that faith in the year 1844 was
crucial; it was the “present truth” necessary for followers of Christ to remain on the pathway to glory.

She explained,

"…the shut door and the Sabbath are the present truth. These
truths will form and keep up the same mark of distinction between us and
unbelievers as God made in 1844." (White Estate Record Book No. 1, pp. 18-20)

Ellen and her
associates maintained that probation for man’s salvation had closed, at, or
shortly before the Second Advent of October 22nd,
1844. They went as far as claiming that
after October 22nd,
1844, there could be no new converts to Christ, a heavenly door had
been shut; man’s fate was sealed.

Scriptures were used to maintain this teaching; here is one
example:

“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is
filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous
still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” (Revelation 22:11)

Eventually, Ellen reinterpreted her
vision. Then, she and the other Adventist leaders changed their
teaching, explaining that
the heavenly door was only shut to those who previously heard, and then, later
rejected the Advent message.
Those people went into darkness[xl]
due to their disbelief.
This included all the Adventists who lost faith in
the significance of the year 1844 after the Great Disappointment. Obviously, Ellen’s statement about the
Spirit of God no longer pleading with people who received and then later
renounced faith in the 1844 date, would include[xli]
William Miller. Because,
after the Great Disappointment, Miller apologized to the world, maintaining
that on October 22nd 1844, nothing of spiritual significance took place.

New Light—A New Understanding of Daniel’s Vision:

The Adventists accepted all of Ellen’s visions as
being from God, including her first vision in which she saw that the numbers in
the 1844 prophecy were correct.
Based upon Ellen's visions
they maintained that the 2,300-day period mentioned in Daniel did end in 1844,
on October 22, at Midnight. But, they now believed Miller had made a few mistakes. The
Adventists came to understand that Christ was not supposed to come to earth in
October 1844 as was first thought. They concluded that Miller had
made an error in the interpretation of the sanctuary, or temple, mentioned
in Daniel’s prophecy:

“The scripture which above all others had been both the
foundation and central pillar of the advent faith was the declaration, ‘Unto two
thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.’ Daniel
8:14...

These prophetic days had been shown to terminate in the
autumn of 1844. In common with the rest of the Christian world, Adventists then
held that the earth, or some portion of it, was the sanctuary, and that the
cleansing of the sanctuary was the purification of the earth by the fires of the
last great day. This they understood would take place at the second coming of
Christ.

Hence the conclusion that Christ would return to the earth in
1844. But the appointed time came, and the Lord did not appear. The believers
knew that God’s word could not fail; their interpretation of the prophecy must
be at fault; but where was the mistake? Many rashly cut the knot of difficulty
by denying that the 2300 days ended in 1844...

They argued that if the prophetic days had ended in 1844,
Christ would then have come to cleanse the sanctuary by the purification of the
earth by fire; and that since He had not come, the days could not have ended...

With earnest prayer they reviewed their position, and studied
the Scriptures to discover their mistake. As they could see no error in their
explanation of the prophetic periods, they were led to examine more closely the
subject of the sanctuary.” (Cosmic Conflict, Ellen G. White, ch. 18)

Let’s look at the sanctuary in Dan. 8:

“He said to me, ‘It will take 2,300 evenings and mornings;
then the sanctuary will be reconsecrated’” (Dan. 8:14).

Miller had substituted the days in Daniel for years. Miller
taught that Daniel’s 2,300-year period started in 457 B.C., with the decree of
Artaxerxes to rebuild Jerusalem; he simply added 2,300 years to 457 B.C. and
arrived at A.D. 1843-4. He taught that the “sanctuary” in Daniel was the earth. Miller had taught that when the
sanctuary, or earth, was cleansed, Christ would return.

The Adventists came to believe that when God gave Moses the
pattern for the tabernacle in the Old Testament, it was the representation of a
heavenly temple, or sanctuary.

They found that in prophetic scripture the Bible spoke of
only two temples, and, that one of them was the earthly temple in Jerusalem,
which had been destroyed in 70 A.D. So, they understood the only temple
left for Christ to come to was the one in heaven.

Instead of thinking that a temple in Jerusalem may be built
in the future, or, that the temple spoken of in prophetic scripture could
represent God's chosen people, or, thinking that a heavenly temple could merely
be an illustration of a spiritual truth; the Adventist's came to believe that
this temple was a heavenly structure.

They maintained that according to the
Old Testament, Israel’s high priest entered the Holy of Holies in the temple
once a year to make intercession for the sins of Israel. It’s
also written in the New Covenant that Jesus now holds the position of high
priest. The
Old Covenant design of the high priest making atonement for man’s sins was
fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Building
upon this model, the Adventists began to teach that even as the earthly high
priest entered an earthly temple on the Day of Atonement, on October 22, 1844,
the heavenly High Priest—Jesus—stepped through the heavenly temple’s veil,
moving from the holy place to the Holy of Holies. Having entered the most holy
place in the heavenly temple, Christ had now, as of October 22, 1844, allegedly
cleansed the sanctuary in fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy. This is the position
of the Seventh-day Adventists today. See statement of faith

Conclusion:

In the 1840s, William Miller’s message
was mostly confined to the northeastern United States. It
did make it to Europe and Great Britain; however, Miller’s teachings didn’t have
much impact overseas, possibly because there was a lack of apparatus for
spreading Miller’s message back then. The first public telegram wasn’t sent
until 1844, and the telephone wasn’t invented for another thirty years.

Yet, Miller’s ministry had produced fruit in such people as
Brother George Storrs, Joshua V. Himes, Ellen G. White, and Nelson H. Barbour.
These men and women kept the Advent faith alive for years.

Advent fever[xlii]
was not going away. Ellen and her husband fanned the fire[xliii]
for years. The number of Adventists were growing steadily at the time our next
subject — Charles Russell — was coming of age.

[i]“May 19, 1780,
stands in history as "The Dark Day." Since the time of Moses no period
of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has ever been
recorded. The description of this event, as given by eyewitnesses, is
but an echo of the words of the Lord, recorded by the prophet Joel,
twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfillment: "The sun shall
be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and
terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31. Christ had bidden His people watch for the signs of
His advent and rejoice as they should behold the tokens of their coming
King…” (The Great Controversy, Ellen White, chapter 17,
p. 308)

[ii]"The moon which was at its full, [May 19th, 1780] had
the appearance of blood." (Statement from Milo Bostick in Stone's
History of Massachusetts)

[iii]"Those who choose might without inconsistency say
that the century or generation might as properly reckon from the last
sign, the falling of the stars, as from the first, the darkening of the
sun and moon: and a century beginning 1833 would be still far from run
out. Many are living who witnessed the star-falling sign. Those who are
walking with us in the light of present truth are not looking for things
to come which are already here, but are waiting for the consummation of
matters already in progress…" (C.T. Russell, Studies in the Scriptures IV
- Battle of Armageddon, pp. 604-5)

[iv]“And there shall be signs in'
the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars... And when these things
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads for your
redemption draweth nigh." 13. Christ gives another sign in Matt. xxiv..
23, 24, " Then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or
there, believe it not; for there shall arise false Christs and false
prophet?, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. There can be no doubt
of this sign being fulfiled. 14. The fulfilment of the parable of the
ten virgins—the midnight cry has gone forth from every quarter of God's
moral vineyard…” (Signs of the Times, Mar. 1840)

[v]“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On
the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and
tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is
coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” (Luke
21:25-26)

[vi]“…Sir Isaac Newton, [Adam] Clarke, and all
commentators of note agree that five or six of these trumpets are in the
past. They have been fulfilled in events upon the Earth, each covering a
period of time. They certainly must all sound before the resurrection,
for that is under the seventh. The writer believes that we are now
living under the sounding of the Seventh, that it has been sounding for
more than thirty years, [1840] and continues during the time of trouble,
and until the Kingdom of the Lord is Universal Empire.” (Object and
Manner of our Lord’s Return, 1877, Charles Russell, p. 46)

[vii]“New England's Dark Day refers to an event that
occurred on May 19, 1780, when an unusual darkening of the day sky was
observed over the New England states and parts of Canada. The
primary cause of the event is believed to have been a combination of
smoke from forest, a thick fog, and cloud cover. The darkness was so
complete that candles were required from noon on. It did not disperse
until the middle of the next night.” (Wikipedia, New England's Dark Day)

[viii]“…the King of Meteor Showers which peaks on a day
near 17 November. Approximately every 33 years the Leonid shower
[associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle] produces a "meteor storm",
peaking at rates of thousands of meteors per hour. These Leonid storms
gave birth to the term "meteor shower", when it was first realised
during the November 1833 storm that the meteors radiated from near the
star Gamma Leonis. The last Leonid storms were in 1999, 2001 (two), and
2002 (two). Before that, there were storms in 1767, 1799, 1833, 1866,
1867, and 1966.” (Absolute Astronomy on-line article: Meteor Shower,
taken from Wikipedia)

[ix]“…Mr. Miller became a member of the Masonic
fraternity, in which his perseverance, if nothing else, was manifested;
for he advanced to the highest degree which the lodges then in the
country, or in that region, could confer.” (Memoirs of William Miller,
by Silvester Bliss, Published by Joshua V. Himes: 1853, pp.21, 22)

[x]Even after becoming a
Baptist, William Miller remained a Freemason for about 15 years. It
wasn’t until September 10, 1831 that he wrote a letter of resignation to
the Lodge; probably not because there was anything wrong in his mind
about being a Freemason, but according to him: “to consilliate the
feelings of my Brethren in Christ” and to avoid “fellowship with any
practice that may be incompatible with the Word of God among masons”.
(David L. Rowe, God’s Strange Work, William Miller and the End of the
World, Rowe: 2008, pp. 93-94)

[xi]“For upwards of fourteen
years William Miller's whole time was spent thus - working on his farm
and in his leisure hours drawing up charts covered with a network of
mathematical calculations, all tending to prove the accuracy of his
system of interpreting the prophecies according to his own personal
methods. And all these calculations showed that the year 1843 would
usher in the Millenium. The more he worked out his theory, the more
convinced he became of the truth in it.”

[xii]“With intense interest
[William Miller] studied the books of Daniel and the Revelation,
employing the same principles of interpretation as in the other
scriptures, and found, to his great joy, that the prophetic symbols
could be understood. …he traced down the great lines of prophecy, until
he reached the solemn conclusion that in a few years the Son of God
would come the second time, in power and glory, and that the events
connected with that coming and the close of human probation would take
place about the year 1843.” (Cosmic Conflict, Ellen White, ch. 13)

And,

LECTURES IN NEW YORK,

On Thursday and Friday evenings of last week,
Brother Whiting lectured to very large audiences at the Baptist
Tabernacle in Mulberry street. He gave a
very clear proof that the 2300 days of Daniel end in 1843.
Many doubters were convinced. On Saturday evening, Brother Storrs
commenced a course of lectures at the corner of Grove and Hudson
streets. Notwithstanding the evening was one in which people in the city
very seldom attend meeting, the house was crowded to excess. The crowd
was still greater on the Sabbath. (THE MIDNIGHT CRY!, Vol. II, New York,
Jan. 20th, 1843, p. 1)

[xv]“I continued to study the
Scriptures, and was more and more convinced that I had a personal duty
to perform respecting this matter. When I was about my business,
it was continually ringing in my ears, 'Go and tell the world of their
danger.' This text was constantly occurring to me, 'When I say
unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not
speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless,
if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn
from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy
soul.' - Ezek.xxxiii.8,9. I felt that if the wicked could be
effectually warned, multitudes of them would repent; and that if they
were not warned, their blood might be required at my hand. I did
all I could to avoid the conviction that any thing was required of me;
and I thought that by freely speaking of it to all, I should perform my
duty, and that God would raise up the necessary instrumentality for the
accomplishment of the work. I prayed that some minister might see
the truth, and devote himself to its promulgation; but still it was
impressed upon me, 'Go and tell it to the world: their blood will I
require at thy hand.' (Apology and Defense by William Miller, 36 page
tract dictated to Sylvester Bliss and published by Joshua V. Himes -
1845)

[xvi]“The next day, which, as
nearly as I [William Miller] can remember, was about the first Sabbath
in August, 1833, I delivered my first public lecture on the Second
Advent.” (Apology and Defense by William Miller - 36 page tract dictated
to Sylvester Bliss, and published by Joshua V. Himes in 1845)

[xvii]“By an
examination of his correspondence, it appears that he must have begun to
lecture in August 1831. So this date [1833] is a mistake of the printer
or an error in Mr. Miller's memory.” (Wikipedia – Millerism, 2011)

[xviii]"'The next day, which, as
nearly as I [William Miller] can remember, was about the first Sabbath
in August, 1831, I delivered my first public lecture on the second
advent.’” (Sketches of the Christian Life and Public Labors of William
Miller – Elder James White, 1875, chapter IV)

[xix]“[William Miller] “- with a
personality that baffled even those bitterly opposed to his convictions
- chastened in spirit; more or less broken in health; repentant of past
scepticism, and calling upon those spiritually asleep to awaken and
repent, for the end of the world was at hand!” (Days of Delusion — Clara
Endicott Sears, 1924, Chapter 1)

[xx](Taken from a letter to
Joshua V. Himes, Sketches of the Christian Life and Public Labors of
William Miller – Elder James White, 1875, Chapter IV)

[xxii]“If the door (represented
by the door in the parable) is not to be shut until Jesus descends from
heaven in flames of fire, then where will be the knocking, and saying
‘Lord, Lord, open unto us’? It is evident that the door is shut prior to
the second advent, and that unbelievers are ignorant of the fact of its
being shut; therefore they knock at the shut door, and say, ‘Lord, Lord,
open unto us.’ When the great day of God's wrath is come, and
unbelievers are apprised of their lost situation, they will not knock,
with a hope of being admitted, no, no; but they will flee to rocks and
mountains for shelter. See Isa. ii. 19-21; Rev. vi, 15-17. Now their
prayer is, ‘Lord, Lord, OPEN UNTO US;’ but then their prayer will be to
‘rocks and mountains,’ ‘FALL ON US, and HIDE us FROM the face of him
that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.’" (The
Present Truth, May, 1850, p. 79)

[xxiii]"I have seen that the
1843 chart was directed by the hand of the Lord, and that it should not
be altered; that his hand was over and hid a mistake in some of the
figures." (Early Writings, Ellen White, page 64.)

[xxiv]He wrote to Himes on
February 4, 1844: “Jesus Christ will come again to the earth, cleanse,
purify, and take possession of the same, with all his saints, some time
between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. I have never, for the space
of more than twenty-three years, had any other time preached or
published by me; I have never fixed on any month, day, or hour, during
that period.” (MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM MILLER p. xiv)

[xxv] “The Leonids … are a
prolific meteor shower associated with the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The
Leonids get their name from the location of their radiant in the
constellation Leo: the meteors appear to radiate from that point in the
sky. They tend to peak in November. Earth moves through the
meteoroid stream of particles left from the passages of a comet. The
stream comprises solid particles, known as meteoroids, ejected by the
comet as its frozen gases evaporate under the heat of the Sun when it is
close enough – typically closer than Jupiter's orbit. The Leonids are a
fast moving stream which come close to or cross the path of the Earth
and impact the Earth…” (Wikipedia on-line article, The Leonids, 2011)

[xxvi]“The Leonids have been
seen to have very brief periods when hundreds of meteors can be seen.
This does not happen every year but seems to come to a peak every 33
years, which is the period of Comet Tempel-Tuttle. These storms of
shooting stars were seen in 1799, 1833, 1866 and, most recently in 1966.
The expected storms in 1899 and 1933 were very disappointing.” (The
Leonid Meteors, Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, Royal
Greenwich Observatory, 2007)

[xxvii] “I labored extensively in
all the New England and Middle States, in Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, the
District of Columbia, and in Canada East and West, giving about four
thousand lectures in something like five hundred different towns.”
(William Miller, Apology and Defense, August, 1845)

[xxix]“It was at a campground
in East Kingston, New Hampshire, in early July 1842 that the decision
was made to purchase a large tent that seated more than 3,000 people. By
August the tent was in use. During the next couple of years, dozens of
camp meetings were held with attendances overflowing the capacity of the
great tent.” (MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM MILLER p. xiv)

[xxxi]"...1799 definitely marks
the beginning of 'the time of the end'.... 'The time of the end'
embraces a period from A.D. 1799, as above indicated, to the time of the
complete overthrow of Satan's empire....we have been in 'the time of the
end' since 1799" (The Harp of God, 1928 ed., pp. 235-36, 239).

[xxxii]“And note, further, that
both of these measures are given in answer to Daniel's question as to
what would occur to God's holy ones after their power (the truth) would
be released from Papal crushing, (that is, after 1799), and before the
setting up of the kingdom of Messiah - Michael. The reply in substance
is that Daniel need not hope to understand further, but that in thirty
years after the beginning of the Time of the End (1260 + 30 = 1290), a
purifying, cleansing, refining work would begin among the holy people…
it would be deficient in some of its chief elements until 45 years later
(1290 + 45 = 1335), or 75 years after the beginning of the Time of the
End, A.D. 1799 (1260 + 75 = 1335). This is clearly indicated by the
Hebrew text, which represents the matter as though the watchers, who
already have seen something, and are waiting patiently, would suddenly
(when '1335 days' had passed) get a full, clear view, far beyond their
expectations. 'Oh! the blessedness of him!'. Reckoning from A.D. 539,
the 1290 symbolic days ended in 1829 .. A religious movement ..
generally known as 'Second Adventists' and 'Millerites,' .. began about
1829.. Thus it will be seen that the separating work of the 'Miller
movement' had its beginning at the time foretold - at the end of the
1290 days, 1829." (Thy Kingdom Come, 1891)

[xxxiii]“His [Miller’s] original
concluding date for the 2300 Days of Daniel 8:14 was 1843. Miller
overlooked the fact that there was no year zero. This was finally
pointed out to Miller by Samual Snow, the one who began "the seventh
month" movement (Lev. 23:27) after the disappointment in the Spring of
1844. Following this disappointment, Miller was no longer in control of
the direction of the Movement. The tenth day of the seventh month as the
day for the coming of Jesus based in Hebrew sanctuary typology was not
Miller's exegesis but rather that of Snow and Storrs.” (Arasola, op.
cit., p. 148) The birth of Seventh-day Adventism is rooted in this
Seventh-month movement. (See SDA Encyclopedia, RV edition, "'Midnight
Cry,"' p. 885; "Seventh-Month Movement," p. 1337)

[xxxv]"'I have just come from a
prayer-meeting this morning, at our school-house, at sunrise. We are
praying for the second coming of our dear Redeemer, when the "sanctuary
will be cleansed." Pray with us, my brother. I am more and more
satisfied that the end of the world is at hand. The evidence flows in
from every quarter "The earth is reeling to and fro, like a drunkard."
One short year ago, and Zion was rejoicing with her multiplied converts;
now she is down "by the cold streams of Babylon." One year since, and we
were enjoying a plentiful harvest; now we are sleeping in the cold, and
the staff of life is neglected. Is the harvest over and past? If so,
soon, very soon, God will arise in his anger, and the vine of the earth
will be reaped. See, see!--the angel with his sharp sickle is about to
take the field! (Sketches of the Christian Life and Public Labors of
William Miller – Elder James White, 1875, Chapter IV)

[xxxvi]"At midnight on the 22nd,
the Bridegroom was to come, and a rain of fire was to descend from the
heavens, and the Saints were to be gathered up in a whirlwind. There
they stood on that black, tempestuous October night, shivering with cold
and fear - their faces upturned, and every eye strained to catch a beam
of the awful light piercing the clouds. The morning broke, and with it
came the end of the delusion. The assemblage dispersed in despair, and
slunk away silently and downcast to their houses." (Days of Delusion,
Clara Endicott Sears, Chapter 9, 1924)

[xxxviii]"I am strong in the
opinion that the next will be the last Lord's day sinners will ever have
in probation. And within ten or fifteen days from thence, they will see
Him whom they have hated and despised, to their shame and everlasting
contempt" (Letter from William Miller to Elder J. V. Himes, October 6,
1844).

[xxxix]“White was only 17 when
she began her mission as God's messenger. She experienced some 2,000
visions in her lifetime. Without warning, she would go into a trance,
which began when she shouted "Glory!" three times. If no one caught her,
she then swooned to the floor. The trances lasted from a few minutes to
several hours, during which time her eyes were open and her heart and
respiration rate slowed to an almost imperceptible level. Sometimes she
exhibited extraordinary physical strength during the trance. When she
came out of it, she sometimes remained blind for a few days. In later
years, White's daytime trances stopped and her visions occurred in
nighttime dreams.

Skeptics offered various explanations for White's
visions. Some believed they were the result of hypnotism. Others thought
she suffered from hysteria or other mental disorder. But most Adventist
followers accepted her as a prophet who received messages from God.
White believed it was her mission to relay the messages she received,
although she was somewhat uncomfortable with the responsibility.
Although she was young and frail, suffering from breathing difficulties,
fatigue, and fainting spells, she traveled to churches and camp
meetings, where she was accepted as a messenger of God.”
(Encyclopedia.com, Ellen Gould Harmon White, 2011)

[xl]“I saw that in '44 [1844]
God had opened a door and no man could shut it, and shut a door and no
man could open it. Those who rejected the light which was brought to the
world by the message of the second angel went into darkness, and how
great was that darkness.” (Letter 2, 1874; Selected Messages, book 1, p.
74)

[xli]“Said the angel, The
desolations of Zion are accomplished. I saw He took away the first and
established the second; that is, those who were in the faith would
become rebellious and be purged out and others who had not heard the
Advent doctrine and rejected it would embrace the truth and take their
places. (Ellen G. White Ms. 5, July 29, 1850, pp. 3-4)

[xlii]“Some are looking too far
off for the coming of the Lord. Time has continued a few years longer
than expected; therefore they think it may continue a few years more,
and in this way their minds are being led from present truth . . .In a
view given June 27, 1850, my accompanying angel said, Time is almost
finished, get ready, get ready, get ready.” (Early Writings, pp. 58 and
64, respectively).

[xliii]Ellen White
Saw That People Must Be "Baptized in the Faith of the Shut Door:"

"Said the angel, Can ye stand in the battle in the day
of the Lord? Ye need to be washed and live in newness of life. Then I
saw that those whose hands are now engaged in making up the breach and
are standing in the gaps that have formally since [18]'44 broken the
commandments of God and have so far followed the Pope as to keep the
first day instead of the seventh, would have to go down into the water
and be baptized in the faith of the shut door and keeping the
commandments of God and in the faith of Jesus …
and all who have not been baptized since
[18]'44, will have to be
baptized before Jesus comes. Some will not gain progress now until that
duty is done and then they must live anew unto God and serve Him
faithfully.” (Ellen G. White Ms. 16, 1850, p. 2. — July 20, 1850)

Note: Ellen said that that during her vision she saw that
baptisms before 1844 were no longer sufficient, and for some, it was
necessary to be "baptized in the faith of the shut door."

One might wonder:

● Was this message really
from God?

● Was Ellen suffering from some
sort of delusion?

Or,

● Were other forces involved?

The bible admonishes Christians:

"Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but
test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false
prophets have gone out into the world.